Lepiota albofloccosa, a new species in sect. Lepiota (Agaricaceae, Agaricales) from Northwestern Himalayas of Jammu and Kashmir, India

Abstract

Lepiota albofloccosa is proposed here from India based on morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses of the nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer and large subunit of rDNA region. The combination of morphological and molecular data confirmed the novelty of this species and its infrageneric placement within Lepiota sect. Lepiota. This species was found in the debris under Picea smithiana and is characterized by a snow white to milky white pileus with pale yellow to brownish yellow umbo, a scaly to cottony pileus surface with floccose velar remnants, fusiform to cylindrical, slightly thick-walled, dextrinoid basidiospores, and pileus covering a trichoderm composed of elongated hyphae. A detailed description, illustrations, and comparisons with morphologically similar and related taxa are provided here.